The Brown Fairy Book, part 4 · page 21 2101By God’s grace you have removed my children’s powerful foe.102I regard you as a child of my own.103Stay with me; I will give you everything you desire, and I will establish a city here for you, and will furnish it with every requisite; I will give you the land of the Caucasus, and will make its princes subject to you.104Give up the journey to Waq, it is full of risk, and the jins there will certainly kill you.”105But nothing could move the prince, and seeing this the bird went on: “Well, so be it!106When you wish to set forth you must go into the plain and take seven head of deer, and must make water-tight bags of their hides and keep their flesh in seven portions.107Seven seas lie on our way—I will carry you over them; but if I have not food and drink we shall fall into the sea and be drowned.108When I ask for it you must put food and water into my mouth.109So we shall make the journey safely.”110The prince did all as he was told, then they took flight; they crossed the seven seas, and at each one the prince fed the Simurgh When they alighted on the shore of the last sea, it said: “O my son! there lies your road; follow it to the city.111Take thee three feathers of mine, and, if you are in a difficulty, burn one and I will be with you in the twinkling of an eye.”112The prince walked on in solitude till he reached the city.113He went in and wandered about through all quarters, and through bazaars and lanes and squares, in the least knowing from whom he could ask information about the riddle of Mihr-afruz.114He spent seven days thinking it over in silence.115From the first day of his coming he had made friends with a young cloth-merchant, and a great liking had sprung up between them.116One day he said abruptly to his companion: “O dear friend!117I wish you would tell me what the rose did to the cypress, and what the sense of the riddle is.”118The merchant started, and exclaimed: “If there were not brotherly affection between us, I would cut off your head for asking me this!”119“If you meant to kill me,” retorted the prince, “you would still have first to tell me what I want to know.”120When the merchant saw that the prince was in deadly earnest, he said: “If you wish to hear the truth of the matter you must wait upon our king.121There is no other way; no one else will tell you.122I have a well-wisher at the Court, named Farrukh-fal,[12] and will introduce you to him.”123“That would be excellent,” cried the prince.124A meeting was arranged between Farrukhfal and Almas, and then the amir took him to the king’s presence and introduced him as a stranger and traveller who had come from afar to sit in the shadow of King Sinaubar.1 2← previousThe Brown Fairy Book, part 3next →The Brown Fairy Book, part 5↑ back to The Brown Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/4/page/2/